ask: make 5 of something that are identical (phil said exactly the same in class).
i wanted to make 5 of something that, together, are more than the individual parts. i also wanted them to move.
realised that physical-making is best thought about while making, and not in my head. so, i began prototyping.
i wanted objects (cubes) in a grid to move, and a connection between them to change. the connection would be the image, and the cubes would be supporting-materials.
messed around with half-cuts, some ikea-inspired mechanisms, et-cetera for the center piece.
ian helped me understand that i was obsessing over the wrong thing (mechanism over replication), and that wood probably wasn’t the best material for something that moves. wood is best for something solid.
grappled with that for a few days, came in and made a few sketches.
ian had recommended tinkercad to help see things in 3-d. worked more, to visualise a simple thing made of 5 smaller things that move.
i wanted each frame to pivot, but someone at the shop helped me see that it isn’t possible (without more complex mechanisms). so, i reduced my expectations, and focused on something that rotates from the pivot point connecting the frames.
i found a piece of wood in the basement.
first, i divided it into a bunch of sections.
then cut it.
taped groups, and sanded to make them flat on all 4 sides.
phil told me to use the belt-sander, and not the vertical one (to avoid the curves i was getting). so, i resanded all of them.
nikolai helped me understand the screws (and pre-drills) that i should use. found a helpful tool in the drill-bits drawer. if the bit fits, and the threads of the screw catch the hole (making it difficult to pass through), then the bit is fine — creates enough space for the screw to get screwed in.
pasted, and screwed-in pieces. realised wood-glue takes time to try. made many boo-boo-s, but the glue hadn’t dried; so i could ‘un-glue’ and ‘re-glue’ multiple times.
cody frost & aram advised me to sand the edges. i tried, with a piece of 80-grit sandpaper, but it took too long. i’d have to sand about 125 edges. each edge takes ~3 minutes.
decided that wasn’t the assignment — to spend time sanding — and focused on other things instead. i think i learnt a bit about replication (although i wish i’d done something with angled cuts), focusing on the ask of the assignment, sketching (or modelling), and this contributed in the change to my approach to itp.
